The Masquerade Ball
by MidnightxRed
Summary: Who would have thought it would have taken Halloween to make me realise I was in love with the wrong person.' 'We could never go back, but neither of us wanted to.' EmxB Post Eclipse. R&R. One-shot, might continue it.


**AN: I was bored one day and came up with the idea for a Halloween one-shot with a twist. So read it and review and tell me what you think.**

_Disclaimer: I only own the plot for this, none of the lovely characters they all belong to Stephenie Meyer._

I can't believe Alice would do something like this. No I can actually it's just so typically Alice to do something like this. She _knows _I hate dressing up and she _knows _I hate parties (I hate Halloween parties even more and she just has to go and throw one of those) but she just has to roll them all in to one and make my life hell doesn't she?

Sometimes I think she does it deliberately, it's almost as if she sits down and plans ways to make Bella's life a misery. I wonder why Edward didn't stop her this time? Did she threaten the Volvo? Did she threaten to use Bella as a Barbie for the next few days if he didn't agree? Or did he honestly think it was a good idea?

I'm going go with the the last one. Why? Well because he told me that Alice said I would enjoy it. Me, enjoy a party. A masquerade ball at that. It's almost as if he doesn't know me at all.

Why did I agree to this again? Why? It's because I'm a sucker for a puppy dog pout and Alice is a master at doing it. And also because I am easily dazzled by Edward, I don't see how he enjoys taking away my free will. Well he'll be sorry when he wont be allowed to have any physical contact with me for a week. Then he'll finally understand who's boss.

I was interrupted in my rambling thoughts by Alice's tinkling laugh. "Bella, believe me that will never work. You'll cave within the first half hour."

Oh great, now she knew the failed outcome of my plan that would never get put into action. Sometimes I really hated having a physic vampire as a soon-to-be sister-in-law, but other times I loved it. She always knew what looked great on me, but that could also be a bad thing because it normally lead to me being Bella Barbie; like right now.

"Alice, why did you decide to throw a masquerade ball instead of a Halloween party. You know I hate parties. And you know if I wear a dress I'll end up breaking my neck." I whined childishly. I don't care if I sounded like a child. You would too if you had to wear a stupid dress to a stupid masquerade ball that you don't even want to attend. By the end of my internal rant I was glowering at Alice and she tried not to giggle at my childish antics.

"Oh Bella behave. You know your going to enjoy it so stop complaining. Sometimes you act more childishly than Emmett. Now sit still before I end up burning you with the curling iron!" Alice giggled as I stopped wiggling and tried to stop thinking about the horrible evening on the way.

Once Alice was done with my hair ;she had curled it, pinned some of it up on top on my head and left some strands hanging loose so that they framed my face; she went onto my make-up. She was smiling the whole time I sat in discomfort as she flitted around me with goodness-knows-what in her hand doing goodness-knows-what to my face. She was getting far to much enjoyment from this. To tell the truth I couldn't wait to see what I looked like but I'm not going to tell Alice that.

I don't know how she managed to plan a masquerade ball in two days and quite frankly I don't really care. The worrying thought is that she told us that she had all got us original clothing that was made in the time period were masquerade balls were often held. And she had got each and everyone of us a mask that suited our personality and matched our clothes. It scared me to think of how she got it so I decided to ignore that fact until I had to try on the dress. Oh, and I forgot to mention that she is making me wear high heels. High heels! It's as if she is trying to make me break my neck.

I don't know how long I had been sitting there when Rosalie glided gracefully into the room. I still feel the hit on my self-esteem every time she walks into a room that I am in even after all this time it still gets to me. She wasn't as hostile to me as before. After that conversation of why she didn't want me to become a vampire we had almost been friendly towards each other ;almost but not quite.

"Hello Alice, how long are you planning to keep Bella in here for? Edward's about to pace a hole in the carpet in his room." Rosalie said in her perfect, bell-like voice.

"I'm going to keep her in here until I am finished. I have had to restart on her make-up at least seven times and I still can't get it right!" Alice whined in her high soprano voice which made the pitch of the that last sentence almost unbearable.

"Well, I could always do it. It helps to have more than opinion when it comes to fashion and make-up. If you don't like it then you can always take it off and do it yourself? Does that sound okay Alice?" Rosalie said in an even voice as she attempted to calm Alice down. It worked. Alice's eyes gleamed as she smiled and threw herself at Rosalie.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!!" Alice squealed as she clung onto Rosalie. Rosalie had a horrified look on her face as Alice continued to squeal her thanks at Rosalie. The scene was becoming too much for me to bear so I ended up laughing hysterically. Hysterical laughter normal means someone is nervous, or in my case is emotionally unstable at the moment. My hysterical laughter attracted the attention of not only Alice and Rosalie but Edward who was currently in his room and under strict orders to stay their until I was completely ready.

"Alice! You better be taking care of my fiancée or I'll come down there and hide her from you!" Edward shouted from upstairs and I could hear the anger in his voice, but I could also hear that his pacing had stopped. At least Esme's carpets were safe, for now.

"Edward if you do decide to hide her I'll know were and when you decide to do it before you do yourself so you have no chance what so ever!" Alice screamed back. Her patience was wearing thing.

"Right, Bella, before Alice takes a fit why don't I start on your make-up?" Rosalie asked kindly. And with that I blocked out everything else around me and waited until the hellish evening would arrive.

It was evening in the Cullen house hold and the ball was well under way. I smoothed down my cream coloured ball dress ;that made my skin look even paler; as I sat on the stairs completely bored. My dress had a bodice for the top part that made my bust look bigger ;it actually made me appear a whole size bigger, I'm going to have to thank Alice for that; and the bottom part of the dress flared out slightly ;emphasising the curves I didn't know existed; before reaching the ground. The dress had gold stitching and a really light gold floral pattern over the entire fabric. It shimmered in the light, apparently the same way my eyes shined all the time. Trust Alice to flatter her master piece.

My mask was the face of a swan and was white with a few feathers along the top. You couldn't really see my make-up, apart from a little amount around my eyes that really made then stand out against the white of the mask and my pale skin.

Edward was dancing with Rosalie. He should have been dancing with me, I thought as annoyance coloured my thoughts. Why wasn't he dancing with me? Why was I all alone when he was having fun. I couldn't even see them, they were hidden amongst a mass of bodies in dresses that looked like cheap imitations compared to mine and the rest of the Cullens'.

My shoes were surprisingly easy to walk in and were really comfortable. I hadn't stumbled once the entire evening. I don't know if they were comfortable to dance in because no one had asked me to dance, not even my fiancée. This was why I didn't go to events lie this. I was always the geeky girl on the sidelines that no one wanted to dance with or be associated with. I felt this way all through school in Phoenix and I thought I would never feel this way again when I met Edward. I was wrong.

Almost the entire town of Forks showed up for Alice's Halloween Masquerade Ball. They all thought it was a welcome change to the boring routine of trick-or-treating. Everyone was having a great time, apart from me.

As if by magic a hand tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around to find not Edward but Emmett. I recognised him immediately. He was wearing a beige coloured outfit and a mask that resembled a bear. Even if he was wearing a different mask I would have recognised him easily. No one else had such broad shoulders or as muscular a figure. No one else had such a cheerful presence about them.

I stared up at him in disbelief. Why was he over here with me when he could be enjoying himself. Edward was away enjoying himself. The whole of Forks was enjoy themselves. So why wasn't I? I thought sadly.

"Bella, would you like to dance?" Emmett asked in his deep baritone voice. His voice sent a chill down my spine and sent my heart racing. It wasn't an unpleasant chill, in fact it was a nice kind of chill. But why did his voice do this to me? Why did his voice make all my sadness disappear and my heart race?

I heard him chuckle at the reaction my heart gave but there was something different about his chuckle? It sounded like he was glad my heart hammered in my chest at the sound of his voice. Was he? Don't de silly, Bella, I mentally scolded myself. He's just laughing at your silly human reactions.

I smiled up at him as I answered. "Of course." Is it just me or did he look relieved that I said yes? No of course he didn't. He's just trying to be nice.

He offered me his hand to help my up and I took it. My skin tingled under his touch.

He pulled me up off the ground with a little more force than necessary. The force sent me flying into his rock hard chest. His arm wrapped around my small frame and for a slight second pulled me tighter to his chest before he let me go. Don't let me go, I thought. Don't. Wait? Did I just think that? Did that actually happen? It must be the head rush from standing up too quickly, I reassured myself. It didn't work, in the back of my mind I knew I was lying to myself.

To try and control my thoughts I decided to talk to Emmett. "You know, your the first person who has asked to dance with me. Even Edward didn't dance with me. He probably didn't want me to break my neck..." I trailed into silence as I saw his murderous glare.

"Edward, your fiancée, didn't dance with you? He let you sit over there all night by yourself!? No one should let a beautiful girl sit alone and upset." He answered in a severely pissed off tone, but towards the end his tone softened as he looked at me. His eyes held an unreadable emotion but I couldn't look into them for too long because I was too embarrassed by his complement.

I blushed as I looked down at my feet. Did he honestly call me beautiful? The only other person that has every called me beautiful (apart from my family) was Edward and even he hadn't been saying it as much as he used to.

Emmett looked down at me with his marvellous, liquid topaz eyes and whispered to me, "You have an incredibly beautiful blush, did you know that?" That only served to make me blush more and to make him chuckle quietly at the sight of me blushing even more.

Why did he have this affect on me? I've never noticed it before, maybe because it wasn't in affect before. I never noticed how beautiful he looked as his skin shimmered gently in the light. I never noticed how the light danced in his eyes. I never noticed how gorgeous his smile was. So why am I noticing it now? Or have I always noticed. Have I always known but has it been stored at the back of my mind?

We had reached an empty space at the edge of the dance floor just as a slow song came on. The entire walk over here Emmett hadn't once let go of my hand and I was glad he didn't because I would have missed his touch too much.

He carefully spun me round so I was facing him and he placed my arms around his neck. I could just put my arms around his neck, but it felt like they were meant to fit there. He placed his hands on my hips and pulled me closer towards him until I could feel every line of his body against mine but I still wanted more. It was as if my body was moulded to fit his, as if he was the one I had always been waiting for.

I stared up into his eyes to see that he was looking down into mine. It felt like heaven, here in his arms, and I wanted to stay in them forever. To stay happy forever. But would he be happy, would he be truly happy if he knew how I felt towards him. I doubt it.

Emmett lowered his head so that he could whisper in my ear. "So beautiful... so beautiful Bella." That was all he said but it was enough. It was enough to wipe all doubt from my mind. He felt the same. I rested my head against his chest and he rested his chin on top of my head. We fit together perfectly. I wondered why I never felt exactly this way when I was Edward. And then it dawned on me.

It's because I wasn't meant for him. It's because I was never supposed to end up with him. It's because I was meant for someone else. I was meant for the man I was dancing with. I was meant for Emmett.

Content in the knowledge that I was truly happy I continued to sway to the music, wrapped in Emmett's arms. No one interrupted us. No one questioned our closeness. No one questioned the love that rolled off of us.

Who would have thought it would have taken Halloween to make me realise I was in love with the wrong person. Who would have thought the holiday or witches and creatures of the dark make me realise that the love of my life and been with my all along. Who would have thought that clumsy, plain ordinary Bella would end up with the gorgeous, strong, handsome, dazzling Emmett. Not me. And certainly not him.

I didn't think the night could get any better. But when he lifted his chin from my head and grasped my chin between his fingers, I knew it could. He titled my face upwards so that I was looking in his eyes before he lowered his face to mine and placed his lips upon my own.

It was a short, sweet and simple kiss but it was enough. It was enough for me to know that it was the best thing I have ever experienced in my life. It was as if in that kiss everything I had ever felt for him and him for me was expressed in that short space of time. It was as if a current of electricity had passed between us and nothing could ever near it in comparison.

My lips moved of their own accord against his own. His lips were soft, despite the marble toughness of the rest of his body. His lips fit perfectly with my own and I never wanted them to leave. But of course they did. And as he pulled away he planted a kiss on my forehead.

My breathe came in short gasps at the affect of the kiss. I was about to feel embarrassed about the affect he had on me until I noticed that his breathe was also coming in short gasps. It was nice to know I had that affect on people.

I looked around to see if anyone noticed ;not that I cared but it would have been a whole lot easier to not explain this to people; to find that no one had noticed. Our little... exchange had gone on with out the knowledge of anyone surrounding us.

I looked at Emmett's face only to be caught short by the look in his eyes. It was just then that I realised that if I kissed him once more or stayed in his embrace any longer than there would be no going back. No way to stop what was meant to happen.

Even with this knowledge I moved my hand up to the back of his neck and brought his face down to my own were I hungrily captured his lips with my own. This kiss was more passionate than the first. I coaxed his mouth open with my own and tangled my hands into his hair welding him to me. I knew that he could easily escape my hold but he didn't. Instead he grabbed my hips and pulled them closer to him so that I was crushed against his body. I still wanted to be closer.

There was no going back now. The passion had been ignited. It was no longer a tiny flame but a roaring fire. Nothing could destroy it. Nothing could change it. It was invincible. It made me feel amazing!

Ignoring the gasps of the people around us I continued to kiss him fiercely. My tongue danced inside his mouth as it fought for dominance. I had never been kissed this way before so it was a whole new experience for me but I'm sure Emmett had never felt this way before either. Eventually I had to pull away for breath but he continued to kiss down my neck and along my jawline.

I was perfectly content. I was more happy than I thought possible. The fates had finally gotten their way. I had got my man. He had got his woman. I had found my soul mate. He had found his. We were happy. We could never go back, but neither of us wanted to.

Breathlessly I whispered to Emmett, "Happy Halloween." And it was. It was the best moment of my life.

In answer to my comment Emmett's mouth moved until it was millimetres from own before he whispered, "Happy Halloween indeed, my darling."

**AN: So.. what do you think? It's a lot different than the normal Halloween fan fictions. I might continue this into an actual story. So if you want me to or don't want me to tell me in a review. I hope you enjoyed the story cause I enjoyed writing it.**


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